UnitedHealth Group (UNH)

Demographics: With the aging baby boomers, a large segment of the population will be demanding more health care. They will look to pay for it with the help of Medicare subsidies. Since United is so integrated with Medicare already, the company is poised to capitalize on this demographic shift.

UNH has access to a large number of providers and health care customers. The more customers it has, the more providers want to sign into its network. And the more providers it has, the more customers are attracted to it. This benefits UNH in terms of a large customer base, and also serves to increase the market entrance costs for potential competitors.

No liability was assessed in NY AG ruling. As with the Stock option compensation issue, determining Usual and Customary Rates (UCR)was not defined. They now have the hightest stockhold quality rating of any company. UNH is the only way Washington can control the AMA, AHA, pharma from charging what ever they want.

The National and Medicare budget deficiets and business cost savings require solutions offered by UNH. They have the proven ability to make capitation (pay per member / per month)payments through HMOs, MDs "Medical Homes," etc, as an alternative to escalating Fee For Service (FFS) Payments. UNH also has the IT infrastructure to rapidly and electrionicaly pay claims that are screened for errors and fruad. UNH also has connectivity between all disciplines including pharmacy and mental health, and uses evidence-based care standards that has a synergic benefit.

UNH is poised to benefit from President Barack Obama's expanded healthcare offerings. Federal subsidies of healthcare already account for nearly half of the company's revenue, and this trend should continue as federal spending on health increases.

Obama's $789 billion stimulus package includes a provision to provide some $86 billion to states to help subsidize Medicare and other health insurance costs. $24.7 billion will be set aside to provide medical insurance for the recently unemployed under their previous employers' plans. This benefits UnitedHealth Group, which provides insurance for many employers. ^[1]